Allied Health

Ready, set, go for a fulfilling career where your skills for helping will always be in the highest demand.

Today, the healthcare industry employs 6.7 million, and is one of the fastest growing fields in the nation. (Positions for radiologic technicians are predicted to grow by 72 percent. Physical therapists: 87 percent. Health aides: 96 percent!) Right now, there are important roles ready to be filled by smart, caring people like you.

The Allied Health pre-professional track at Oglethorpe is a flexible program designed to prepare students for a wide variety of health-related careers. A specially appointed advisor will help you design the best plan of study, whether your career track requires you to enter your professional training program after completing preliminary coursework, or finishing your bachelor’s degree.

Physical Therapy – Pre-Professional Track

Physical Therapists guide patients through the process of recovery and rehabilitation after a physical injury. Along with a thorough mastery of rehabilitative techniques and treatment plans, the role also requires skills as a coach and an educator — creating a safe, positive space for healing, and giving patients the tools to continue with their own recovery. As of 2013, the average annual income for Physical Therapists was $81,030; the field is projected to grow by as much as 36 percent over the next decade.

Oglethorpe is a great place to study for such a career, offering a robust liberal arts curriculum, a strong foundation in the natural sciences, and an environment that encourages undergraduate research. Plus, one-on-one advising throughout the entire four years helps each student chart an ideal curriculum and career path. After completing your degree at Oglethorpe, you’ll apply to one of the more than 200 clinical doctoral programs for physical therapy in the United States.

Northside Hospital (7,100 employees). Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (5,220 employees). The massive Emory Healthcare system (15,200 employees and more than 625,000 patients a year). And the CDC. They’re all right here in Atlanta, one of the nation’s largest healthcare markets and a top site for serious international health research.

Score a high-impact internship, or roll up your sleeves for a service-learning gig; Atlanta abounds with opportunities for experiential learning, and your advisers at Oglethorpe will help connect you with the clinic, hospital, private practice, or research center where you can connect your classroom learning to the real world.

Oglethorpe students have completed internships at top-notch healthcare facilities like Atlanta Urology Association, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes for Health, Northside Hospital, Providence Hospital (in Mobile, Alabama), Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Center, and more.

With your education in Allied Health Studies, you can pursue a career in medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, clinical laboratory science, home healthcare, or another health-related field.

Become a biostatistician, an epidemiologist, a health finance specialist, or a health services manager – these important fields are critically understaffed.

Follow in the path of recent graduates and enroll in professional programs at universities like Mercer and Emory.